Ecco Leather recently invited us to their concept store W-21 in Amsterdam in order to check out their recent project. Ecco Leather is the experimental sub brand of Ecco that experiments with and creates outstanding leather materials at their own tanneries since 2001. At W-21, they present their latest products. All collections are designed by a unique partner and only 12 pairs of each shoe are produced and sold.

“We don’t need to try to be cool – our products are a celebration of how to work leather”, says Panos Mytaros. He’s been working for Ecco since 1995 and has been part of the ECCO Managing Board since 2011. In this function, he’s been responsible for a lot of outstanding innovations.

Panos Mytaros explaining Ecco Leather innovations to press invitees

Ecco Leather recently created heat-reflective leather that changes its color when it’s getting hot. Another crazy innovation is translucent kettle leather. Because of so much experience in production, Ecco Leather has become one of the big suppliers for high quality leathers. Even brands like Apple are working with the Dutch brand to source the leather for the Apple Watch wristband.

For the current “Rooftops” footwear collection, famous American sneaker customizer and cobbler The Shoe Surgeon was invited to work on the different Ecco Leather silhouettes. He also shared his wisdom during a 5-day shoe-maker course at Ecco Leather’s tannery, focussing on deconstructing and reconstructing sneakers.

The Shoe Surgeon – helping us to pick material for our individual shoes

Ecco Leather has a special “customization” project that’s called “Super-Hack” where customers choose between different colors, several sole systems, different uppers and more than 100 different types of leather. We were lucky to be allowed to create our own shoe and even more lucky to have Dominic Chambrone aka the Shoe Surgeon at our side to help us pick materials and colors – you can check out our shoe in our recap gallery below. From classic leather shoes with crepe outsoles to provocative lifestyle runners, the possibilities are almost unlimited. You can find out more about what Ecco Leather & The Shoe Surgeon are up to at the moment via Instagram.

Photo Recap – Ecco Leather x The Shoe Surgeon “Super-Hack Event”

Ecco Leather created the “Terracotta Rooftops” collection in collaboration with The Shoe Surgeon

Several impressions from the event. Drinks & snacks were provided by Ecco Leather

Matching uppers and sole systems

The Shoe Surgeon and the Ecco Leather team help with the tough decision of colors and materials

Only a few of the many colors that can be used in Ecco Leather’s “Super Hack”

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